Last Man Out
Let me start by saying that T20 batting is very hard. It is a balance between power hitting and strike rotation.As we know sri lankan batsmen struggle with power hitting and strike rotation therefore our batting always fails at international level. And selectors don’t help when they think ODI form or domestic performances can be replicated at international T20’s. It’s clear that captain shanaka needs to find a new plan quickly. People will say it is wrong to chane things on the eve of the t20 world cup. But this is sri lanka cricket a bit of chaos helps us win tournaments!
New opening pair
Kusal janith & wanindu hasaranga
I think we are lacking a opening pair that isn’t afraid to hit the ball in the air.
All due respect to avishka he’s a very good ODI player but he struggles in T20.I think avishka is working out his game and it is not fair to ask the young man to try clearing the infield without relevant practice.
When kusal janith comes back we’ll have one opener that can go over the top. My pick for the other opener would be wanindu hasaranga. The guy seems to have lost focus with his batting. A promotion to the top would help him and the team. Wanindu is someone who naturally hits the ball in the air. Putting him in the powerplay will ensure we get off to a fast start. Scraping together 35 runs in the power play will not allow us to win games.
Banuka Rajapaksa at number 5
I am not a big fan of banuka rajapaksa. Didn’t like the way he used social media to get back into the team. And the selectors over reacted and put him at no3 in ODI’s what a joke that was. No one is saying he isn’t talented but his skill set at this moment is very limited. He is only a T20 player, he can’t handle serious pace, bouncers and yokers are always going to get him out.
The best way to utilise him is to let him play the spinners because he can hit spinners out the park any day of the week and we need someone like that between overs 6-15.
Pick players that can actually play T20 cricket
Can you have a batting top order that has avishka,dds,chandi and charith asalanka and expect to win games.Again all these guys are good 50 overs players. But i have never seen these guys play an innings that matches international T20 standards.
Even yesterday chandimal played a decent innings but he struggled in the powerplay created a lot of pressure for the other batters.He was swinging very hard with minimal results.this pattern is very similar in dds and avishka as well. So there needs to be a fair consideration of how many of these guys we can fit into the top 7 and where they bat.It was a joke seeing dds coming so far down the other day.
Strike rotation
This is not out of the box thinking but i really don’t understand why this issue hasn’t been fixed. Strike roataion creates pressure on the bowlers and they then change lines and lengths and the field. Thus giving the batsmen opportunity to find boundries in the gaps on the field. it’s not rocket science!!.
My experimental batting order would be
1.KJP
2.WANINDU HASARANGA
3.DDS
4.CHARITH ASALANKA/AVISHKA/CHANDIMAL
5.BANUKA RAJAPAKSHE
6.DASUN
7.CHAMIKA
8.LAHIRU MADUSHANKA
With all the all-rounders we have, I like the idea to put someone fearless up at the top. Hasaranaga contributes with the bat, we are going to be in a good place in the game. Bowlers bowl more line and length early so it may be ideal. It is a risk and if he gets out, we would need someone to steady, so Avishka is who I would pick. It’s crazy Bhanuka getting 3 ducks but he is one of the best power hitters we have. I think he should play at 3 or 4. Asalanka has done so well at 5, why mess with that? I see a lot of folks trying to add Chandimal. He shoudl be a backup. T20, he has never done well, and thinking that will change. What’s the point of him getting a 30 and us losing the game. We need to be able to beat at least some of the top 6 teams or we are done. T20 seems to be more of a momentum game, need to keep attacking from one end. I think overall, the team needs some coaching on how to play good balls. Waiting for just bad balls is not going to help us put 160+ on the board. My 2
Thank you for the comments. I agree with your points.yes there is no point waiting for bad balls batsmen have to create their own momentum.usually hitting gaps and running hard works till the bad ball comes.
Impressive
How many openers have we experimented with and failed? Better to try and stick with one combo for at least a year otherwise chop and change without any method or plan and that’s what has brought us to our knees. Selectors need to stop playing for fans and media.
Past 2 years SL have mostly played 3 players as openers,D.gunathilake,KJP and avishka fernando.
Gunathilake is out for obvious reasons and avishka has failed to cement his spot.
There is a fair point to be made to get someone in who is capable of big hitting.
Last Man Out,
I agree with some points mentioned.
SL has not yet developed 2 of the 3 batters to play in the top order in T20 WC. I think only KJP is OK. Both Avishka & Chandimal may be ok for ODIs but not performing well as openers in facing an opening spell of a good 145+ quick bowler. Avishka is still struggling to increase his SR from his poor 95% value. When all other leading countries have included openers who can easily achieve more than 130% SR by scoring more 4’s and 6’s during the first PP overs I don’t think we have got any good second opener or a no 3 batter (apart from KJP at no1) for the WC. We saw how even Chandimal was struggling yesterday to connect his big shots when facing even hittable deliveries. Even our no 3 batter Bhanuka is failing in every match. All failures of Avishka, Chandimal and Bhanuka will have a big impact on our WC performance. Changing batting positions or promoting batters is not going to be the perfect answer.
Last Man Out (cont)
As I said now it’s not the time to promote any batsman. Even promoting Hasaranga wont be a good solution. Dont forget that both Hasaranga and Chamika are bowling all rounders and not batting all rounders. So it will be the most unwise thing to promote a bowling allrounder to bat in the top order.
Only solution is to keep Chandimal as an opener and guide him (by the batting coach) to fine tune his attacking shots. As he is a wkt keeper and has quick body,leg and arm reflexes he is the best batter to correct his mistakes within a very short time.
Bhanuka should continue at no 3 as we dont have another clean six hitter/timer (apart from Dasun) who can score sixes with ease during the initial PP overs.
Thank you for the comment . Yes i don’t expect there to be any changes at the top as well.
Micky isn’t that creative,shanaka doesn’t yet have the power to make a big call like that and selectors will be too scared.
So let’s hope for the best.i’ll keep supporting whoever plays.
Just a little side note on power hitting,it’s to late to change chandimal now because he’s too old.Power hitting comes from bat speed,wrist work and a few other things .A good example for SL batsmen would be jos buttler.
As Sri Lanka the main issue we face is that is the middle order for a T20 game . We don’t have the players who can match the rest of the international teams who can clear the boundaries in the middle over or at the end of a T20 game .
There has been so many good start in the past but we never been able to finish better to get better totals .
T20 games have fastened up with 160runs has become average if you going to win a T20 game .In the middle overs we only have luxury Dasun Shanka who can clear the boundary he’s clearly out of form isn’t your he’s captaincy is the reason , but at the moment he’s the go to man , unless Charith Aslanaka will be someone who will be looked upon as the next captain for Sri Lanka .
Chamika Karunatne if he works on he’s strike rotation he will become good all rounder , no doubt he got the power to clear boundaries, but he needs to learn to rotate strike as he got very hard hands if he able to work it out will serve Sri Lankan cricket very well .